>> from new york, this is "democracy now!" >> today we sent a clear message to hamas and other organizations, and if there is any, the israeli defense forces are prepared to widen the operation. we will do whatever it takes to defend our citizens. >> israeli warplanes attack gaza for 20 hours straight. 120 palestinians have been injured. rockets from gaza have killed three israelis. as israel threatens to ground invasion, we go to gaza for the latest. and then rolling jubilee. >> an america, that collectors turn around and try to extort the full amount from us. >> that is where the role in tripoli, sen. it raises money to buy the debt.

>> but instead of collecting on it, we will abol an offshoot ofl street has launched a new limit to about the people, not the banks by buying up distressed debt from financial firms and canceling it so that borrowers do not have to repay. then, "tasing ice." >> 1984, the glacier was 11 miles away. today, is back here. the glacier is retreating but it is also thinning at the same time. >> the new documentary looks at how photographer james balog captured climate change on film by placing two dozen time lapse cameras throughout the arctic and other areas to film melting glaciers. he will join us live. all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman. israel is threatening to launch a ground invasion of the gaza strip after breaking an informal ceasefire with a series of deadly attacks. on wednesday, an israeli airstrike assassinated the head of hamas' military wing. the bombing continued, killing at least 13 solutions, including a baby and a mother pregnant with twins. more than one headed palestinians were wounded. at least three israelis were killed when palestinian rockets hit a residential building in the town of kiryat malahi, the first israeli fatality since the latest fighting began. israel says it is try to prevent rocket fire, but the latest round began last week when israeli troops killed a young boy in gaza. the situation has escalated since saturday when palestinian militants fired at an israeli military vehicle near the israel-gaza border.

after palestinian militant groups agreed to an informal truce on monday, israel broke two days of quiet with wednesday's attack. at the united nations, the palestinian envoy condemn the israeli government. >> there is no justification whatsoever for assassinating any palestinians by the israel occupying power. they have assassinated a number of palestinians in the gaza strip. our understanding the number of palestinians killed in gaza so far is nine, in the number is increasing. there is a large number of people injured. the assassination was later on accompanied by attacks from the sea in the gaza strip. there are mobilizing a large number of forces, ground forces, with the possibility of moving in the gaza strip. >> israel's attack on gaza strip marks its largest since

the u.s.-backed operation has killed more than 1300 palestinians nearly four years ago. we will have more from gaza after the headlines. president obama appeared before reporters at the white house on wednesday for his first news conference since winning his second term. he made some of his most extensive comments on climate change to date, acknowledging that his administration had fallen short in taking on global warming. >> we have not done as much as we need to. what i am going to be doing over the next several weeks it, next several months, is having a conversation with scientists, engineers, and elected officials to find out what more can we do to make short-term progress in reducing carbons, and then

working through an education process that i think it is necessary, a conversation across the country, about what realistically can do long term. >> despite hard to take action on climate change, obama said he will not advance any environmental policy that override economic concerns. >> there is no doubt that for us to take on climate change and a serious way would involve making some tough political choices. understandably, i think the american people right now have been so focused and will continue to focus on our economy and jobs and growth that if the message is somehow we're going to ignore jobs and growth, simply to address climate change, i don't think anyone is going to go for that. i won't go for that. >> president obama will be in new york today to view the damage on staten island from superstorm sandy.

also during his news conference yesterday, obama said he would refuse to accept any extension of the bush era tax cuts for the wealthiest americans and talks of averting the so-called cliff -- fiscal cliff. >> we cannot afford to extend the bush tax cuts for the wealthy. what we can do is make sure that middle-class taxes don't go up. we can eliminate loopholes, deductions that have a distorting affect on our economy. i believe we have to continue did take a serious look at how we reform our entitlements because health-care costs continue to be the biggest driver of our deficits. so there is a package to be shaped, and i'm confident folks of good will in both parties can make that happen. >> the oil giant bp reportedly has agreed to pay record criminal fine for the 2010 deepwater horizon oil spill in the gulf coast. according to reuters, bp will

plead guilty to criminal misconduct and him as a penalty that will surpass the $1.3 billion record held by the drug giant pfizer. it reported settlement could be unveiled as early as today. the eurozone has officially fallen back into recession in the face of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis. new figures show economies collectively saw contraction of 0.1% between july and of timber, the second consecutive period of decline. it comes one day after millions of workers across the eu took part in an strike against austerity measures such as tax hikes and spending cuts. dubbed the day of action in solidarity, the first time unions engaged in coordinated strikes across the european continent. two leading republican senators are bound to block any future promotion of u.n. ambassador susan rice over her handling of the deadly september 11 attacks on u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. rice has been mentioned as a

potential successor to secretary of state hillary clinton. flanked by fellow republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina, senator john mccain of arizona vowed to thwart any senate confirmation for rice. >> let's see what happens here, but we will do whatever is necessary to block the nomination that is within our power as far susan rice is concerned. while we await the findings and recommendations of the internal review of the big as the attack by the administration, it is essential for congress to conduct its own independent assessment. there is no credibility amongst most of us concerning the administration and the numerous controversies and contradictions that have been involved in their handling of this issue. >> responding at a news conference in washington, president obama defended rice and issued a challenge to her detractors. >> senator mccain and senator gramm and others want to go

after someone, they should go after me. and i'm happy to have that discussion with them. but for them to go after the u.n. ambassador who had nothing to do with benghazi? and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence she had received? to besmirch her reputation? that is outrageous. >> democratic congressmember nancy pelosi has announced plans to stay on as house minority leader through the 2014 midterm elections. she disclosed the news as she stood with a group of incoming female members of congress. look russert asked if it prohibited the democratic party from grooming a new generation of leaders. >> you say your decision to stay on prohibits the party from having a younger leadership and hurts the party in the long term -- what is your response?

>> discrimination. >> next! next! >> wow. >> you have always asked that question, except to match mcconnell. >> the now former republican candidate mitt romney is under scrutiny for a leaked recording discussing president of them supporters. and a conference call with donors, romney blamed his loss on obama's so-called diaz to various groups including african-americans and hispanics. >> the president's campaign focused on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then worked very aggressively to turn them out to vote.

>> romney went on to include young people and college students in his list saying -- romney's comments come days after his running mate, wisconsin congressmember paul ryan, talked of obama's victory to the president's strength in "urban areas." some top republicans are already distancing themselves from romney's remarks.

speaking to reporters wednesday night, louisiana governor bobby jindal called romney's statements "absolutely wrong," adding "we have got to stop dividing american voters." bobby jindal has just become the head of the republican governors association. workers at a walmart supply warehouse in elwood, illinois have filed charges of unfair labor practices against the site's four operators. the the workers walked off the job for three weeks this fall amidst allegations of sexual harassment, dangerous working conditions, unpaid wages, and retaliation against organizers. the workers returned to work after winning pledges for an end workplace retaliation and full back pay. workers in california are staging a one day strike over what they say are unsafe and unsanitary conditions. the actions in illinois and california mark the latest in a series of protests against labor conditions at walmart sites nationwide. a subsidiary of bank of new york

mellon has agreed to pay a $210 million fine for concealing the fraud of disgraced financier bernie madoff. prosecutors say mellon's ivy asset management unit uncovered major problems with madoff's business, but continued to profit from steering clients to his investments. in charlotte, north carolina, 9 environmental activists have been arrested after staging sit ins at bank of america branches to protest the company's financing of the coal industry. protesters temporarily shut down four branches across charlotte -- all to the banking giant's world headquarters -- accusing bank of america of "bankrolling climate change." the action was part of the rainforest action network campaign to confront the bank for its leading role in funding the coal industry. a saudi national in the united states on a student visa has been sentenced to life in prison for attempted bomb plot. khalid ali-m aldawsari was convicted in june of purchasing chemicals and equipment with the

intent to make a bomb. his alleged targets included former president george w. bush and three former u.s. military officials stationed at the abu ghraib prison in iraq where scores of iraqis were tortured. those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israel is threatening to launch a ground invasion of the gaza strip after breaking an informal ceasefire with a series of deadly attacks. in israeli airstrike assassinated the head of the hamas military wing on wednesday. the bombing continued throughout the day and night, killing at least 13 civilians, including a baby and a mother pregnant with twins. more than 100 palestinians were also wounded in the toll is expected to rise. at least three israelis were killed today when palestinian rockets hit a residential building and the town of kiryat malahi, the first israeli fatalities since the latest fighting began. israel says it launched the strikes to prevent palestinian rocket fire, but the latest round of violence began last

week when easterly trips to the young boy in gaza. the situation has escalated. after palestinian militant agree to an informal truce on monday, israel broke two days of quiet with wednesday's attack. israel's attack on gaza marks it largest since the was-backed operation that killed more than 1300 palestinians nearly four years ago. it was just about this time, just after president obama was elected for the first time, that the attacks, operation pass lead, began. we go to gaza city where we're joined by palestinian journalist mohammed omer. can you describe what is happening now on the ground? >> the only thing you can hear is the bombing and f-16's and missiles dropping across the gaza strip, everywhere in the gaza strip.

we just heard a number of missiles fired and the drones. drones.indf-16's and in the east part of the gaza strip, where talking about, in particular, or the bombing has taken place from the israeli warships. the situation is very critical at the moment. as i'm sitting right now with a number of people who are evaluating, a number of injured people are being evacuated. they cannot find where to go to evacuate the dead bodies. there are a lot of people injured. so far we have the number, according to a medical crew next to me, seeing people killed in the last 24 hours -- we have 15

people killed in the last 24 hours, with over 150 people injured. in the last few hours or in the last couple of hours, the emergency team here and ambulances announced they found the bodies of four people, including a child who lost her leg, a young man who was critically wounded between north and gaza city. as we speak at the moment, we're told they're firing missiles in the middle of the gaza strip. this is not the first time. last night alone, eight air strikes were fired at a refugee camp in the southern part of the gaza strip. >> mohammed omer, i want to ask about a new report. the israeli peace activist who helped mediate between israel and hamas in the deal to release gilad shalit, said the

military commander was assassinated just hours after he received the draft of a permanent truce agreement with israel, which included mechanisms for maintaining the cease-fire. what do you know about this? >> this is inaccurate. this is what hamas officials are confirming. i should say there is outrage among palestinian political parties, particularly [indiscernible] and the more secular movements. they are angry because jabari was not as a negotiator, just remind our people, jabari was behind the release of the israeli shoulder gilad shalit. jabari was the contact person during this critical time of the year when there was bombing and f-16's firing. he was the person to talk of high -- on behalf of the

palestinians. so far, the palestinians have not been in -- they have not been able to restore a real truce. now we are losing jabari, who has a lot of influence in all the political factions, given the part he plays the most important role as a palestinian leader among the palestinian factions. >> mohammed omer, how this latest violence is started? the israeli government says it is because of hamas rocket fire out of gaza. >> there was a truce, actually. there was a truce. the israelis it possible for the people to believe there was a truce. otherwise, someone like jabari would not be moving in gaza city. that is out of the question. he was driving with his driver

with his bodyguard in the streets of gaza city and i happened -- and happened to be next to this bomb. there was no need for worry for anyone in gaza. about two days ago when there were installing the truce, jabari was involved. it was a sudden attack by the israeli misfiles, in retaliation, which is coming from bothas we're speaking righ, more breaking news from the medical team next to me that the israeli warships are firing missiles at the houses of the people. yes, firing missiles at the homes and rafah. the ambulance crew do not know where to go in order to evacuate the bodies of the people. it is exactly like the situation yesterday. i can confirm most of the people

injured and killed our civilians, people who are not taking part in any military confrontation. israel is attacking people who are inside their homes. we have seen a lot of the families trying to flee the borderline area to go to the middle of the gaza strip, but in the middle of the gaza strip that are being bombed by f-16's. those who are fleeing because they for the warships are going to fire at them, they're faced with f-16's firing at them in the middle of the gaza strip. same for those living on the east of gaza city who are facing constant gunfire from the border. >> mohammed omer, you arerafah. you were there earlier today? >> i was in rafah and does the city today. i commute between them.

i'm still in gaza city. i wrote return to raha from gaza city and now back to rafah. >> i spoke just before dawn today with u.s. president obama and we spoke about the necessity of ending this aggression, and making sure it is not repeated. peace and security in the region is the right of all without aggression and this type of blood shed. during our conversation, we examined the was in which we could calm the situation at and this aggression of bloodshed and how peace and security could be achieved and how the region to be stabilized without problems in the future. i explained to its stance that our eagerness to maintain good relations with the nine states in the world, but the same time, we completely rejected this aggression and refuse to accept these actions and bloodshed. and is -- >> egyptian president mohamed

morsi spoke on egyptian television. mohammed omer -- mohamed morsi apparently pulling out the egyptian ambassador to israel, mohammed omer, where do you see this going right now? and talk about four years ago. it was about, what, a month from now four years ago, right after president obama was elected for the first time before he was inaugurated that operation cast led happen that killed more than 1000 palestinians? what do you see happening now? >> well, it brings back for many gazans the past led operation. many think, this is cast led 2. you can see it in the streets free of you walking the streets, people are rushing into the shops buying food. the gas stations, if not into,

are very crowded with people trying to get as much fuel to run their electricity. as we speak right now, i do not have electricity so we have to rely on a generator in order to work. i see this situation -- it is not going to be sought any time soon. the egyptians will have to find another palestinian for whom they can talk to. i really do not see the egyptians will be able to succeed to contact anyone from the hamas leaders. given the fact even journalists who are in gaza city cannot reach the hamas leaders because they're all underground and not reachable by their phones. there is no way to deliver the message about a cease-fire or trees because the number of people who are trying to reach the hamas officials, including

some europeans who are trying to understand where to go after jabari's assassination. nobody knows where to go after his assassination. israel has indicated on a number of occasions that they're going to ask hit their schools to be closed for a number of days, and even weeks. it also makes the government think that indeed there is a very acute and dangerous situation with the palestinians are concerned that this is going to take a longer period. >> mohammed omer, thank you for being with us. we will continue to follow this developing situation. a palestinian journalist, speaking to us from gaza city. in 2008, mohammed omer won the martha gellhorn prize for journalism in britain. this is "democracy now!" we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. an offshoot of occupy wall street has launched a new movement to bail out the people, not the banks. coined "rolling jubilee," activists are raising money to buy distressed debt from financial firms, then canceling it so far worse do not have to repay. the people who incurred the debt in the first place then get a certified letter informing them they are off the hook. >> the debts we have are not legitimate. but we should not be forced into debt to cover basic needs like health care, housing, and education. >> we need a jubilee. a clean slate, the cancellation of debt for the 99%. >> an america, banks sell debt on the shabbily markets followed that buyers. debt collectors then turn around and try to extort the full amount from s. >> that is where the rolling jubilee, sen. it raises money to buy the debt.

>> instead of collecting on the debt, we will abolish it. poof. shabam. >> tonight, "growing jubilee" is holding a sold-out benefit concert to continue its fund raising. they're already raised $129,000 through online donations, which is enough to buy approximately $2.5 million of defaulted loans due to their steep markdowns. for more we're joined by pamela brown, ph.d. student in sociology at the new school, one of the organizers of rolling to believe. explain. who is getting bailed out? >> first of all, thank you for having me on your show. rolling jubilee was an idea floating around for awhile. one of the people in the video we just saw brought the idea to a coalition we formed earlier this summer called "strike debt scrap it rose from the

university debt. we started to gather and -- we started talking realize that that was the tie that binds the 99%, the intersection of wall street and our lives. >> say more how rolling jubilee happens. >> it is a very simple idea, yet no one has ever tried it before. debt collectors do this all the time. someone defaults on their dead. in other words, they cannot pay it, and the original creditor gives up on, trying to collect it. a secondary round of people involved in the debt market, which is a $60 billion market place, decides they're going to try to collect on the debt. obviously is not worth the original value, so the original creditors sell it for as low as 5 cents on the dollar, in many cases, and sell it to a second round of collectors -- that buyers and collection agencies.

they tend to collect that debt. they do pretty job because they make about $12.2 billion a year on collecting in essence what was defaulted debt. >> journalist lindsay beyerstein wrote an article, "rolling jubilee: how does that work?" she writes -- pam brown, what is your thoughts? >> so far we have raised about $185,000 for it that by no means

is an amount that could impact the system. there's over $13 trillion of consumer debt. it is an interesting idea. i'm not sure how it would play out. i don't think we're in were close to that point where we are really influence in the system that way. the idea behind the campaign is to expose the predatory that system. if you think about it, by buying this for 5 cents on the dollar, approximately, what we're doing is preventing profit, at least at this level, and also helping people. people are really suffering. we have gotten emails from people saying, "i can only afford to contribute a dollar. beingsingle mother, hounded by debt collectors." we know the system as predatory. debt collectors target low- income communities of color regularly with predatory tactics like entering judgments against them in court, things they cannot defend themselves

against, and then are able to make claims to their bank accounts and any assets that they have. that is what we're really trying to influence. >> what about declaring bankruptcy as a way to challenge their death? >> there are many ways to strike debt, per se, and certainly bankruptcy is among them. it is not as easy to do that as it used to be. they're interesting ways debt system breaks down based on subjective ideas the judges have. for example, if you read in the debt resisters operation manual, which an organization has created the rolling jubilee, you can find out with bankruptcy, it breaks down a richly in part because of subjective ideas the judges have and two all conditions being equal would prefer white americans for bankruptcy protection.

an african-american family tried to declare bankruptcy may find themselves in a situation where they paid, because ship to pick it to this, and they cannot declare bankruptcy ultimately. >> can you talk about the debt resisters operations manual? >> sure. a few of us got together from strike debt and decided it would be a good idea to come up with a mutual aid project where we could both explain our analysis of the that system broadly, but also have tangible ways that people could think they could actually -- things that could help themselves as individuals while still proposing we needed a collective resistance to debt. >> how does this tie in the student debt? you've been one of the major organizers around that campaign. >> one of the things we learned with the occupy students debt campaign is one of the criticisms people leveled

against us was that student that is challenging to resist because you have lost all the consumer protections that would have allowed you to write off student debt in bankruptcy that allows use certain protections, really. students debt you could have for the rest of your life. we realized we had to tie ourselves to other debtors -- housing, credit card, medical debt to build true resistance. >> i don't know if you heard the comments from mitt romney recently, but he was recorded in a conference call to donors for blaming the loss on obama's gives to african-americans and hispanics. among the things he said, forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift. so that is how obama got people

to vote for him. >> first of all, that was incorrect. along with that package, which kept interest rates for student loans down, we also lost interest rates for graduate student loans. those interest rates went up and the amount of land that crutchers --credit is went up -- some say the same, really. >> pam brown, where is occupy today? this is the anniversary of the police moving in on occupy wall street at zuccotti park. and eviscerating the encampment. but also we just experienced superstorm sandy. you went from help station to help stationed throughout new york that was being run by occupy sandy relief. >> i think we're at a moment that is interesting, where mutual aid has become a very big

part of what occupy is doing. with occupy sandy, one of the things i think we're going to see is as this tragedy unfolds, more and more we're going to more we'redebt is tied to this. we know goldman sachs has partnered with new york city to offer so-called low interest runs, which are predatory loans, paid back within two years and even though the interest is low, it is virtually impossible for a small business to do. i think we're going to see these two strands merge. we look at debt intersection of wall street and our lives. what is interesting there, the victim us from the park and now this is like a new battleground for resistance. >> occupy sandy relief, what you found in these different areas, what were people doing during the superstorm? >> most interesting, organically, occupy was able to organize quickly on the ground and provide real relief to

people -- provide food and clothing. people were donating all of these things. the red cross was barely able to reach out to people in a way necessary to distribute -- was not really able to reach out to people in a way necessary to distribute the goods. >> republican said, people should not donate to the red cross. >> and it probably should not. online you can go to amazon and find occupy center relief registries. you can donate what people thinn amazing that with sandy, is going and talking to people and saying, "what do you actually need?" and providing that. we can do that uniquely. we're not really a relief organization per se, but the networks will formed over the past year have come together in such an amazing way to help people in their day-to-day lives and bring some of the ideas we have about inequality and

economic resistance to them. >> the website for rolling jubilee? >> rollingjubilee.org. >> thank you for being with us, pamela brown, ph.d. student in sociology at the new school and one of the organizers of strike debt, which recently launched rolling jubilee. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to know me klein on global warming and a response to superstorm sandy. her book is, "the shock doctrine: the rise of disaster capitalism." she is now working on a book about climate change. in the latest piece for "the nation," called "superstorm sandy -- a people's shock?" she writes --

jim klein elaborated tuesday night when she spoke at the 92y tribeca. this was her response when an audience member asked about her argument that the recent -- the reconstruction from sandy is after a great place to usher in progressive change. >> socialism, i called it a people's shock you're referring to, what i argue in the book and in the shock doctrine is this whole strategy was developed by the right in response to the fact that crises -- economic crises and ecological crises are traditionally opportunities for the left.

if we think of neoliberalism is a counterrevolution against the new deal and intent and make the gains made by the popular movements in the aftermath of the crash of 1929, then i think we should also see the shock doctrine as the right strategy to make sure that crises go their way during disaster as opposed -- a direction they go more organically, which is toward getting at the root cause of the crisis. in developing popular movements that the man's real structural change. the problems i called out in the book are not responding strongly to disaster. there's nothing wrong with that. if you're having a crisis, you should respond strongly. it deserves that. it is these particular ways using crisis in an anti- democratic way to hoard power, to centralize power, to circumvent democracy. i'm calling for the opposite of

that. in moments of crisis, brought in the democratic space. i think thinking about how a community response after a disaster like sandy, it is a great example because often what you have are very elite-driven reconstruction process these. a committee filled with industrialists, the reconstruction plan, often very, very well people who are supposed to attract more donors. and often the affectepeople are treated as so traumatized and so victimized that they could not participate in the reconstruction process themselves. this is simply not true. in fact, the best way to recover from a trauma is to overcome your helplessness by participating, helping. that is what you see in the extraordinary occupy sandy response to this particular crisis, where it comes in spirit not of the traditional relief organization that just comes to

community and says, "we know what you want" and hands out whatever people decide they want. it is very much a client relationship. the volunteers involved and occupy sandy are coming in and the spirit of what they call mutual aid, which is asking people, "what do you want?" and try to empower communities. not just for immediately, but the recovery afterwards. what would that look like? here we have a crisis that is supposed to be a wake-up call about climate change. and it was for a little while. you have the bloomberg cover, bloomberg endorsing obama because of his supposed stand on climate change. the yet when we think about the construction, we're talking about how to hold back the next storm, not how to prevent the storms from continuing to

escalate. in the midst of all this, what is happening in the city is a serious discussion about raising transit rates, raising fares on the subways and the public bus system. which should be happening in response -- talk about the confidence we should be gaining from finding out we were right, is saying, not only do not want fare increases, but public transit in a moment like this should be free. we should be developing policies designed to encourage the maximum number of people not to use cars, but public transit, right? that is just one example of, in my view, what people's shock would look like. that involves mobilizing committees, organizing people in public housing who still do not have lights on, to be a political force. one thing i was struck by in redbook yesterday is people are talking about climate change there. often, people who are really on

the front lines, there is this assumption that they're too focused on the daily emergency care about the big picture issues. people were bringing up climate change unsolicited with me again and again and saying things like "we don't just want the lights on, wouldn't it be nice if we had solar power so we did not have the storm threatening as next year or the year after or the year after?" the truth about climate change, we're locked into a certain amount of climate change in the years to come, but we absolutely have a very small window to try to avoid catastrophic climate change. we have gotten a taste of what we're looking for, and in this pretty scary. -- and it is pretty scary. it is not mobilizing people most affected to be a political constituency. i think this ties into the question, other than trade unions, what are other possible organizing bases? with organized neighborhoods. we have to organize people

around housing issues, debt issues cannot organize transit users and these other constituencies -- and organize a transit users and these other constituencies. it is that as present in our economy as it used to be, which is to not say that they are irrelevant, but they cannot be the only body that organizes mass numbers of people. >> now decline speaking earlier this week at the 1992 -- at the 92y tribeca in new york, author of, "the shock doctrine: the rise of disaster capitalism." her latest article is, "superstorm sandy -- a people's shock?" she will be speaking with bill mckibben. she is writing a book on climate change. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, "chasing ice

." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continue now on the topic of global warming with a film some are calling the new " inconvenient truths." it's called, "chasing ice" document in the effort of award winning photographer james balog and his team to gather undeniable evidence of global warming. this is an excerpt from the film's trailer. >> shooting the entire time. this is the memory of the landscape. at that landscape is gone. it may never be seen again in the history of civilization, and it is stored right here. >> the trailer for the new film, "chasing ice >> opening

nationwide this week. for more we're joined by the film's director jeff orlowski and its main subject, james balog, an award winning photographer whose work revolves run relationship between humans and nature. the film chronicles his work with the extreme ice survey, a long-term photography project, that works to preserve a visual legacy of how climate change and other human activity impacts the planet. he is the author of seven books, including us recently, "eyes: portraits of vanishing glaciers." thank you for being with us. this film is astounding. it is chasing you chasing ice, james reed >> i've been fascinated by glaciers and the mountains for basically my entire adult life since i started being a mountain near.

that interest and life experience led me to realizing that ice was the place you can get a three-dimensional manifestation of climate change. climate changes abstract. much of it is based on statistics and measurements and projections, but in ice, you really see climate change and action. it is rendered in three dimensions. i had an assignment the -- i'm sorry, from "the new yorker" that led to "national geographic" assignment which led to realizing if we put time lapse cameras out, we could make a running record of how the landscape is changing. as we sit here this morning, we have 34 time lapse cameras at 16 glaciers in alaska, greenland, iceland, montana, northern rockies and in appalled by mount everest. these cameras are just sitting there clicking away. and about another 10 minutes or

so, we will have 34 of our little robot eyes opening and closing in capturing the memory of what is happening in those places right now. >> you initially put them in agreement, alaska, montana? >> and iceland to. >> in this clip from "chasing ice," you describe what you have documented that one of the glaciers. >> 1984, the glacier was 11 miles away. today it is back here, receded 11 miles. the glacier is retreating but also standing at the same time. it is like air being led out of a balloon. you concede the tram line, the high water mark of the glacier in 1984. the vertical change is the height of the interstate building. >> that is james balog in "chasing ice." >> these glaciers in south-

central alaska, they are deflating due to a combination of climate change and local glacier dynamics. that glacier has retreated since that shot was taken, probably pulled back close to another half mile or a mile, at least. and it continues in a rapid retreat. it will go crawling its way back up the valley. all of that ice that was once there is now part of the pacific ocean. >> you have this amazing moment in the film when you first come to bring the time lapse cameras. you are standing there, and you actually see a glacier calving. explain. >> having is -- the men describe what a glacier does breed these big rivers of ice, flowing down these valleys. when they need a body of water like a lake or ocean, they form this big wall that is called a calving face.

that was anywhere from 200, and a few cases before hundred -- feet high. when the event happens, these massive icebergs, topping off the front face of the glacier and become these big things that are bobbing in the water, floating out to sea. what also happens is, if you seat 200 feet above water, there's probably somewhere between eight to 10 times that vertical distance underneath the water. there's a lot ice that is under the surface of the sea. all of that breaks off in big chunks and does floating rate is quite dramatic. >> talk about what you saw. how where this is. where was it? >> i think the one you're referring to was in color englanagreement. >> you were there? >> yes, i shot that with our other friends adam.

we scheduled a month-long trip for we would maintain a 24 hour vigil just to capture something like this. we had 24 hours of daylight in may. we had a eight-hour shifts. some was kept awake every single minute. we were just waiting for something bad like that to happen. what we caught was the largest ever shot like that, ever documented. >> you have this or you're going out, then you have the politics of how people are dealing with climate change. for example, just yesterday, president obama in this first is conference since being reelected did actually address the issue of global warming because he was asked about it. this is an excerpt when he refers to the arctic. >> what we do know it is the temperature around the globe is increasing faster than was predicted even 10 years ago. we do know the arctic ice cap is

melting faster than was predicted even five years ago. >> an is this conference, president obama acknowledged his in ministration "has not done as much as we need to." >> we have not done as much as we need to. what i'm going to be doing over the next several weeks, next several months, is having a conversation with scientists, engineers, and elected officials to find out what more can we do to make a short-term progress in reducing carbons, and then working through the education process that i think it is necessary, a discussion, a conversation across the country about what realistically we can do long term to make sure this is not something we're passing

on to future generations. it is going to be very expensive and painful to deal with. >> jeff orlowski in your film, you open with the climate change deniers, people like sean hannity of fox. how you go from the arctic back here and hear this? >> it is very interesting having that will boost on the ground experiencing and see how the planet is changing, then to the political commentary around there. the president is in a tough position, and many politicians are, because they hear two sides of the story. we're hearing the science and scientists and is there unanimous. 97% of the climate experts believe is happening and we need to do something. in washington, they have six lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry, at least, for every member of the senate and house. they're hearing a very different story on the reality of the situation.

we return to capture evidence and imagery that takes it away from this bipartisan debate and move the conversation ford. >> you come back here to new york where we were just it was superstorm sandy, and your grandmother's house in staten island where you grew up, hard hit. that is where the president is going today. >> people kept asking is, what the consequences of climate change? why does it matter if the ice melts in agreement thousands of miles away? we were trying to relate that scientists have been telling us for decades because of the warming temperatures and melting ice, events like sandy will happen with greater frequency or get more violent. that is really the end result. that is what climate change results. >> james, you did not particularly believe in climate change. >> i thought was based on computer models. i really did not have it in my psyche that was possible for him is to change the basic physics

and chemistry of this gigantic planet. it did not seem probable. >> your work is so massive, so at a, and we just have a minute ago, so talk about how chasing eyes, you're actually chasing ice has changed too. >> i have been profoundly reshaped and might own mind and my own experience of this. i am really, really concerned for my daughter's future. at a 24-year-old daughter and an 11-old daughter. i am quite concerned by the time they get to be our age, they're going to be living in a world so radically different from what we're living in, and might be not such a great world. i think we're certain to be bidding -- much more violent extremes of weather with a known to political consequences from

that, perhaps agriculture stress, drought stress, whatever. i'm concerned about the stability and security and safety of the world by kids will be in. >> thank you both for being with us and for making "chasing ice was put in your life work, james balog, award winning photographer. he is featured in the new film, "chasing ice" which follows his work with extreme ice survey that provides a visual legacy how climate change and other human activity impacts the planet. he is the author of "ice: portraits of banishing glaciers." [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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